Doctors Without Borders flees from Somalia
Aid group accuses authorities of overlooking or supporting ruthless attacks on workers
NAIROBI, KENYA— In announcing a pullout from Somalia after 22 years, Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday that armed groups are killing and abducting aid workers. And in a scathing indictment of Somalia’s leadership, the aid group accused civilian leaders of condoning or even supporting the attacks.
The pullout goes against the narrative of a Somalia emerging from decades of anarchy and violence amid military gains against Islamist insurgents, but it underscores the violence that persists.
Doctors Without Borders, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group known by its French initials, MSF, said the pullout will cut off hundreds of thousands of Somali civilians from humanitarian aid. For example, in Mogadishu, MSF runs the only pediatric intensive care unit, while in Jowhar, women will have nowhere to go for emergency Caesarean sections.
“Last year alone, we conducted over 600,000 consultations and 40,000 hospital admissions,” said Stephen Cornish, executive director of MSF Canada. “In some areas, we are the only providers of motherand-child health or medical consultations. In those areas, it’s going to be quite tragic that civilians in many cases will find themselves either with very diminished quality of care — or perhaps in some cases with no care.”
Although MSF is known for operating in the most gruelling environments, the situation in Somalia has reached a crisis point, the organization said. Authorities and clan elders are no longer able — or willing — to give MSF humanitarian protection, Cornish said.
“Some of these very authorities that we’ve relied on for security guarantees are either no longer able to provide these guarantees in the best cases — or in the worst cases have either been involved . . . or looked the other way while some of these events and incidences have been carried out,” he said. “That is really the most striking realization for us.”
The decision comes after the release from prison of a Somali man convicted of killing two MSF staff. In December 2011a Somali employee of MSF, who recently learned his contract would not be renewed, shot and killed a Belgian and an Indonesian worker at an MSF compound. He was convicted, but authorities released him from prison after only a few months.
Since 1991, dozens of attacks result-
“Last year alone, we conducted over 600,000 consultations and 40,000 hospital admissions.” STEPHEN CORNISH MSF CANADA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ed in the deaths of 16 MSF staff in Somalia. Two MSF employees who were kidnapped in a Kenyan refugee camp near the border and held in Somalia for almost two years were released last month. In a blunt statement, MSF denounced “extreme attacks on its staff.” “In choosing to kill, attack and abduct humanitarian aid workers, these armed groups, and the civilian authorities who tolerate their actions, have sealed the fate of countless lives in Somalia,” said Dr. Unni Karunakara, MSF’s international president, at a Nairobi news conference. He did not elaborate on the accusation or present evidence. Somali government leaders declined to comment. Somalia has long been a rudderless nation plagued by cyclical drought and famine and decades of armed conflict. But in recent years it has been seen as making strides in security and governance, particularly since August 2011, when Al Qaeda-aligned militants were forced out of Mogadishu. But violence persists. Two dozen local journalists have been killed since the start of 2012. In June, an attack on the main United Nations compound in Mogadishu killed eight UN employees and five Somali civilians. “In Somalia, we all know we are operating in one of the most volatile and dangerous environments,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the top UN humanitarian official for Somalia. Lazzarini called MSF’s role in Somalia “extremely important” and said the UN would look at which of its aid activities could be taken over by other groups.
Despite the attack on the UN and the MSF pullout, he said Mogadishu is still experiencing a period of hope that should be taken advantage of.
“It’s still a high-risk environment and challenges are huge,” he said. “It’s not as stable as people might want for the time being. Still, it’s one of those rare times when the international community should beef up its support to the government.” With files from Jennifer Yang